http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkdwrmzYXg&

Very sad...

That is just an amazing video.

Terribly sad. I was reading they had 2 hour advanced notice of the storms, so it is just horrible that the grounds weren't evacuated before the storm arrived.

They shut down and evacuated the music festival in Tulsa ahead of the storms that partially collapsed at stage there on August 6 before Primus and the Flaming Lips played. Good call there and should've been done on Indianapolis.

There was also an outdoor symphony concert going on in Indianapolis the same afternoon. It was shut down and people were sent to their cars before the storm arrived. I suspect there will be multiple lawsuits over this.

It was a tragic event . . . Very sad . . . Really.
The whole thing makes me feel vaguely sick.

Yet when it comes to "lawsuits" in connection with the event are they going to be filed by people without enough sense "to get out of the rain" (or out of the way of the immediate hazard) without "some authority" telling them to do so? Or whom?

Sort of along the lines of "if you don't tell me to jump off a cliff I probably will" so it's your fault?

The "deep pockets" here probably belong to Sugarland and Their Promoters because if it wasn't for them, there wouldn't have been a crowd at risk of injury. If the venue had been hit with a meteor, then I'd say NASA.

It was a tragic event . . . Very sad . . . Really.
The whole thing makes me feel vaguely sick.

Yet when it comes to "lawsuits" in connection with the event are they going to be filed by people without enough sense "to get out of the rain" (or out of the way of the immediate hazard) without "some authority" telling them to do so? Or whom?

Sort of along the lines of "if you don't tell me to jump off a cliff I probably will" so it's your fault?

The "deep pockets" here probably belong to Sugarland and Their Promoters because if it wasn't for them, there wouldn't have been a crowd at risk of injury. If the venue had been hit with a meteor, then I'd say NASA.

Radical, it wasn't just people in the audience who were killed or injured. A man who was working the lighting up in the scaffolding was killed. Unless they are warned to evacuate the area (which would be the legal area of concern), people should be able to attend a presentation like that, even in strong winds, without fear of the stage collapsing on them. I doubt that many of them were structual engineers who could determine how safe the structure might be.

While it's not exactly the same, it reminds me of this:

http://articles.cnn.com/2003-02-21/us/deadly.nightclub.fire_1_attorney-general-patrick-lynch-nightclub-stampede-rhode-island-nightclub?_s=PM:US

I'm sure those in the audience knew the band well enough to know that pyrotechnics were going to be used and that pyrotechnics can cause fire. Does that mean that the club owners or the band were any less responsible because the audience should have known about the danger?

I think the guy still working on the scaffold would have a case. (Or at least his heirs and assigns and etcs. not counting lawyers) At the very least, OSHA should donate any fines levied to the above referenced beneficiaries.

On the other hand, even a dumb ass roofer/remodeler (like I used to be) knows when it's time to get off the roof--even if The Boss tells you not to. Or at least there used to be that much "common sense" in the world . . .

Still . . . The turn of this discussion reminds me of that tornado back in the early 80's that tore up a little bit of Edmond and resulted in an irate homeowner on "In Your Corner" complaining that the guys who framed his "splinterized/direct hit house" didn't put nuts and washers on the anchor bolts holding down the sole plates (that were still attached to the slab by the powder-actuated fasteners--although the rest of his house was scattered all over the neighborhood).

Sometimes S-uff just happens.
I think the "legal term" is "force majeur" (or sumpin' like that there).

On yet another hand, if I was lookin' to sue . . .
I'd be trying to get in touch with that New Mexico lawyer on "Breaking Bad" . . .
He is a Shyster's Shyster.

I think the guy still working on the scaffold would have a case. (Or at least his heirs and assigns and etcs. not counting lawyers) At the very least, OSHA should donate any fines levied to the above referenced beneficiaries.

On the other hand, even a dumb ass roofer/remodeler (like I used to be) knows when it's time to get off the roof--even if The Boss tells you not to. Or at least there used to be that much "common sense" in the world . . .

I agree that I certainly would have been climbing down from the scaffolding (however, I would have never been up there under any circumstance). It's possible he might have been too involved in what he was doing to even know about the danger coming before it was too late and his supervisor should have been advising him to come down. He was on top of the rigging and it wasn't just a short hop to get down.

Can't argue with that . . .
I guess that, in the future, OSHA will mandate "Quick Escape Cables" kinda like those [non-mandated] ones that have been in use on drilling rigs since at least back in the '80s.

I think I need to reiterate that the entire, unpredictable, tragedy actually did hit me hard.
And that my only actual involvement consists of empathy with those who have suffered.
There is no good spin to this event. Nobody is "at fault". There are no "fingers of blame" to be pointed. (Hindsight is 20/20).

Can't argue with that . . .
I guess that, in the future, OSHA will mandate "Quick Escape Cables" kinda like those [non-mandated] ones that have been in use on drilling rigs since at least back in the '80s.

I think I need to reiterate that the entire, unpredictable, tragedy actually did hit me hard.
And that my only actual involvement consists of empathy with those who have suffered.
There is no good spin to this event. Nobody is "at fault". There are no "fingers of blame" to be pointed. (Hindsight is 20/20).


You're right that it should mainly be considered to be a tragic accident. We have to learn from accidents, however, to lessen the possibility of a recurrence.

Amen To That.

Now . . .
Ladies and Gentlemen of The (Imaginary/Virtual) Jury, have you reached a verdict . . .?

Seldom has there been the worst time to sit on the front row.